US may split Cyber Command and NSA

The White House is reportedly considering a structural change that would task two separate officials with overseeing the United States National Security Agency and the US Cyber Command when the man currently in charge of both operations retires next year.

Gen. Keith Alexander has been the top ranking NSA official since
he was appointed director of the controversial intelligence
agency in 2005, and five years later he landed the job of heading
the newly-created USCYBERCOM upon the Defense Department’s
decision to launch a unit in charge of the military’s offensive
and defensive hacking campaigns. Last month Alexander announced
he’d retire in the spring, however, and government
officials now say the Pentagon may opt to divide the role of NSA
chief and cyber commander among two individuals.

Brendan Sasso of Washington’s The Hill website first reported
allegations of restructuring on Wednesday this week, quoting an
unnamed “former high-ranking administration official familiar
with internal discussions” who said the issue was being floated
in DC. On Friday, the Associated Press elaborated on the report
further and has since added credence to claims that two of the
most critical roles within the Department of Defense could be
divvied up.

According to Sasso’s source, the Pentagon is considering multiple
plans, including one which would task a civilian with directing
the NSA and a military officer with overseeing CYBERCOM. Also
being considered, the source said, was putting two separate
Pentagon officials at the top of both units. Alexander, 61, is a
four-star Army general whose tenure in the armed forces includes
a stint during the Persian Gulf War that earned him numerous
awards.

Currently, Alexander’s position allows him in theory to both
direct offensive operations against the computers of foreign
military targets while also administering campaigns to collect
intelligence on those entities.

Caitlin Hayden, a spokesperson for the White House, told the AP
that "The current arrangement was designed to ensure that both
organizations complement each other effectively.” Upon recent
revelations detailing the previously unknown scope of the NSA’s
operations, however, officials within the government would likely
surprise few if the reports that Alexander is replaced by two
individuals prove accurate.

Adding to the AP, Hayden admitted that the White House is “in
consultation with appropriate agencies” and “looking to
ensure we are appropriately postured to address current and
future security needs."

“Obviously we’re aware that some have proposed splitting the
NSA and Cyber Command position,” added Laura Lucas Magnuson,
another administrative spokesperson reached for comment by the
Washington Post.

On his part Alexander went on the record last month to say his
successor should be “dual-hatted,” telling attendees at an
event hosted by Politico, “If you try to break them up, what
you have is two teams not working together.”

“Our nation can't afford, especially in this budget
environment, to have one team try to rebuild what the other team
does,” Alexander said at the October event. That same month,
he told the Washington Post that “You create more problems by
trying to separate them and have two people fighting over who’s
in charge than putting it all together.”

As the recent revelations attributed to NSA
contractor-turned-leaker Edward Snowden have proved, however, the
conduct of the nation’s highly secretive intelligence agency has
escaped arguably much-needed scrutiny and oversight while being
manned by Alexander during the last eight years.

Since June, documents disclosed to the media by Snowden have
revealed information about far-reaching surveillance programs
conducted by the NSA involving the collecting of intelligence
against American citizens and friendly allies alike. At the same
time, other documents released since the summer have shown a
serious absence of oversight within the agency, despite
insistence from administration officials — including Alexander
himself — that appropriate safeguards are in place.

In August, the Washington Post published a top-secret internal
NSA audit from the previous year documenting 2,776 infractions,
including the unauthorized collection, storage, access to or
distribution of legally protected communications, in the
preceding 12 months. And since the leaks first began, the NSA and
the administration of President Barack Obama has been sued by the
likes of the American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic
Frontier Foundation and dozens of advocacy groups from all
corners of the country.

Jason Healey, the director of the Cyber Statecraft Initiative at
the Atlantic Council, told Sasso at The Hill that it might
be in the nation’s best interest to split the roles of NSA
director and cyber commander, and suggested poor choices could —
or have — been done with Alexander manning the helm of both
operations.

“Some things are better to have two centers of power,”
Healey said. “If you have just one, it's more efficient, but
you end up making dumb decisions.”

“We've now created a center of power that we would never allow
in any other area,” Healey added to the Hill. “And it
certainly shouldn't be allowed in something so critical to our
future and national security as the Internet and cyberspace.”

Whatever route the Pentagon decides to take, the next NSA
director will nonetheless be asked to report to the director of
national intelligence — a position currently held by James
Clapper, who approves of Alexander’s job leading both units.
According to the Post, DNI Clapper told the White House that
“the dual-hat construct has worked well” under
Alexander, and a spokesperson of his added that “there are a
number of potential benefits to having separate leaders.”
Even still, Clapper rep Shawn Turner told the Post that the
director still “thinks it’s important to take a thorough look
at the possibility of separating the positions.”